Why?
by SecretWriterPoM
Summary: Rico never did understand why Skipper and Kowalski had helped him out in the first place...


Rico curled up fearfully into the corner of the cage he was trapped in as two figures advanced towards him.

Abuse, violence and betrayal. That's all he knew. All his life he had only felt pain from those around him, nothing more, nothing less. He was called a freak for his bottomless stomach and psychotic nature/tendencies. Being mocked for his looks, disgraced for his lack of intelligence and ability to speak. To make it worse, he was led on by those he thought loved him only to have them crush him emotionally and add another wound onto his heart.

These two were no different. They were just going to inflict more pain onto him in this medical testing place he was tricked into getting trapped in from a female penguin. She never did like him as he had thought she did. That was the last time he would ever fall for a female.

A new scar ran across his beak from the abuse the humans gave him when he was being defiant. The odd looking liquid that they had tried to inject him with, just to see if it was lethal, was supposedly able to cure cancer. All it did was burn his insides and painfully cramp up his muscles.

Pain. So much pain. Physically and mentally. His mind was no longer the same as it once was. Long ago he had abandoned sanity and took out his frustration, pain and anything else that was forced upon him on others with explosions, knifes, chainsaws and anything else he could get his flippers on.

No way would he ever trust anyone anymore after what they did to him. They all plotted against him, these two weren't any different from everyone else. Despite his warning growls, they still threatened to come closer, though Rico noticed the caution in their steps as they did.

"We won't hurt you," the tallest one soothed.

Rico didn't believe the bloody lie.

He jumped up and hacked up a long knife. The process only reopened his scar that went across his beak, causing blood to trickle down from it.

Pain. They were only causing more pain.

The knife he wielded slashed through the air as he tried to blindly defend himself. He longed for those explosive sticks of dynamite that could have easily gotten him out of this mess. Unfortunately, he did not have any in his stomach.

The two figures jumped back, startled at his hostility.

"See?" the shortest figure made a gesture to him from the shadows. "What did I tell you? A maniac, just what we need."

Rico growled, resisting the urge to run his tongue over his scar. Using his abilities, some of which he got from shows on the television, he did multiple tricks with the knife as it was twirled, slashed and came dangerously close to the two figures he deemed were his enemies. A psychotic lust filled his eyes but his beak was curved into a dangerous frown that mirrored his conflicting array of emotions. The psychopathic penguin jumped back and got into a fighting stance, prepared for an attack.

The tallest one shifted in position, making Rico point the knife at him and causing it to flinch in result. "I-I don't know Skipper. He doesn't seem...friendly."

'_Why would I be?_' Rico thought bitterly, a tear cascading down his cheek. '_No one ever was to me! Why should I be friendly to animals that only hurt me?' _he screamed in his mind. His body started to tremble from horrible memories that had been vainly pushed to the back of his head.

The two were silent as they watched the maniac have a sudden break down.

Rico coughed on air with more tears coming down his face then he had thought possible. He clutched the knife tighter and pulled it to his chest. This action made him tense up when an idea struck him.

_'I could end it now..._' Rico thought with bitter-sweet realization.

The two in front of him shared glances, confused because they had no idea what terrible thoughts were going through his mind.

Just one stab in the heart...and all the pain would be gone. Rico aimed the knife for his heart, ready to commit suicide after all that pain he had gone through in his life. No more heartbreak, no more ridicule and no more chances of pain.

However, before he could, the tallest figure tackled him, sending the knife across the large cage. The tall animal came into the faint light, which Rico recognized it to be a penguin. The only thing he saw was the blue eyes before he punched the penguins backwards, angered that they would stop him from committing suicide that could have been the release he needed.

'_Why would they care?'_ Rico thought with venom and stared at the short penguin as it started picking up the other. '_They shouldn't...they just want to hurt me!'_ He jumped across the cage for the knife, only to have it snatched away, causing him crash into the bars of the cage. He cringed when his skull made contact with the hard metal, sending a whole new wave of pain washing over him.

Vision blurry, Rico looked up and saw the short figure, which he identified, was also a penguin, holding the knife. His breathing picked up, his vision sending false images of the penguin with a sadistic smile, ready to strike and kill him.

Only pain.

That's all there was.

But he was ready to finally accept defeat.

Rico continued to lie on his side, staring at this stranger with blank eyes, accepting what he believed to be his fate.

The stubby penguin narrowed his gaze at Rico with pity, seeming to read him like a book. "I wasn't going to kill you," he told Rico and tossed the knife out of the cage. He slowly approached Rico, expecting an attack, but the maniac remained still and simply watched. "We aren't going to hurt you either."

The tall penguin appeared by the stubby one and whispered, "Skipper, I believe he has been through worse than what our Intel said."

Rico still heard. Who knew him and what had happened in his life? Suspicion edged his every move as he got up with his eyes more alive than they had been a moment before.

The stubby penguin named Skipper, Rico guessed was his name at least, whispered back, "We might have to go through a screening test to make sure he is still mentally stable enough to be in our unit."

Rico backed up against the side of the cage and checked his gut for any more weapons. Unfortunately for him, there was none. He had been saving that knife for his escape, which was going to happen by the next night when the 'doctors' were going to try another medical treatment on him, but these penguins probably just ruined his escape attempt.

"Kowalski, options," Skipper ordered and shifted his gaze back onto the psychopath.

Rico stared at them threateningly, hoping it would intimidate them to stay away. This didn't faze Skipper but the one named Kowalski seemed wary.

The tall penguin hesitated but answered quietly, "We could either leave him here-"

"He would die," Skipper growled when he interrupted.

"-or we could take him back to base and hope he recovers physically and mentally," Kowalski finished.

Rico tensed when Skipper nodded and replied, "Right, we can make him a soldier then." He turned his gaze back to Rico. "What do you say? Want to come with us?"

Rico shook his head nervously and went into the corner of the cage and lifted his flippers up defensively.

Skipper wasn't pleased, as it shined in his eyes. "Do you really want to stay here where you can rot, die or whichever comes first?"

This earned a wolf like growl from Rico. It was better than living with those that would betray him.

Kowalski kept his gaze on him as he whispered to Skipper, "I don't think he's coming with us if you talk to him like that, Skipper." The tall penguin eyed him carefully. "Try persuasion," he suggested quietly, so Rico couldn't hear them.

Skipper nodded stiffly. "Worth a try." He waddled towards the emotionally troubled penguin without an inch of hesitation or fear.

Deep down, Rico respected this but, at the moment; he was scared stiff that something horrible was going to happen. He was sure they wouldn't kill him, but he was uncertain if they would hurt him or not. There wasn't much room inside of him for trust anymore. The only one he trusted was himself.

Skipper held up his flippers in, what Rico thought, was a sign that he wasn't going to harm him. Rico relaxed but still felt wary. "Listen friend, we can get you out of here," he began. Rico felt timid when he called him a friend and shifted uncomfortably. "You won't have to go through any kind of torture like this again if you come with us. We got a nice, warm and cozy habitat that brings us fresh fish every day."

Rico licked his beak and nearly drooled at the thought of fresh, tasty fish.

"Plus it's kind of lonely," Kowalski added awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Skipper felt like he was really selling the deal so he pressed just a little more. "We really need you. Just come with us, what do you say?"

This felt so sudden after all that had happened in the last five minutes. Rico eyed them carefully, analyzing theirs moves and looking into their eyes for any trace of deception. He saw nothing foreboding in them and...They did seem a bit friendly. Still, he couldn't trust them...it was another trick.

Rico looked at them in confusion. '_Why?'_ he asked silently. What did they see in him? Saying he could join them at their own home that offered fresh fish was unbelievable to him. Normally, he would have denied this instantly but something, a gut feeling, told him that what they said was sincere and truthfully. Could he...trust them? The idea to him was...so...so...so far away, like it was only what one could dream of.

The psychopath had not realized he had been standing there in silence for minutes until one of the flightless birds approached him.

Kowalski timidly put a flipper on his shoulder for comfort. Rico instinctively wrapped his flipper around it and was about to throw the penguin across the cage, but he managed to relax at the last second. His body slackened and was focused only on the feeling the touch was bringing.

It was...different. Nothing ever felt like that. Every time something or someone touched him it had all felt the same… threatening, cold and not at all meaningful. But now; it felt real, soft and brought a sense of comfort he needed desperately. A whine escaped Rico's beak and tears started to slowly come down again. He found himself curling up into Kowalski's flippers and sobbing out his frustrations and despairs.

The taller penguin patted Rico's back and mouthed to his leader, "_Bipolar."_ Skipper nodded grimly and made a gesture for Kowalski to continue consoling the mohawked penguin. "Shhh, it's ok," Kowalski comforted and rubbed the despairing penguin's back. "You'll be fine with us."

"Come on, let's take him to our base," Skipper whispered and made a gesture for Kowalski to follow. He didn't need Rico's approval, both he and Kowalski knew he wanted, and needed, this.

Rico was picked up, which made Kowalski grunt in effort at the weight, and was carried out of the cage. The strategist followed Skipper out of the building silently, besides Rico's sobs that echoed in the hallway, and came to the outside world. The cold air of the night brushed against their feathers, causing Rico to shiver. It has been a long time since he had last been outside. It felt good.

Rico looked up and saw a full moon, seeming to promise a better future. His flippers wrapped tighter around Kowalski as the penguin continued to hold and carry him to wherever their destination was.

The commanding officer nodded to his second in charge and made signals with his flippers. Kowalski nodded in response and waddled next to Skipper, who started to pat Rico's back in a comforting gesture. They started heading to the Central Park Zoo, which was only a mile away from their location. They were going to give Rico a new life, one that was better than his hell hole.

And over the years… they did just that.

Being accepted like a brother had made Rico's life. Though timid at first, Rico quickly grew on both Skipper and Kowalski and became one of them as a friend, a brother and a teammate. They did missions and training together, bonding and coming to grow even closer. It was a great life for Rico but it got even better when they came across an egg that they hatched themselves and named Private.

That little chick brought a ray of sunshine to their lives as well as an uplifting atmosphere. It was great to have another brother.

One day, Rico found a doll in a store when they had went to get what Skipper called, 'those frilly T.V moon horses' for the young penguin back home, who had gotten interested in the show when they had been flicking through the channels on their television. The doll, Ms. Perky, caught Rico's interest from the start. Someone who couldn't criticize him or what he did and would always smile at him. Never could this doll stomp on his heart.

These had all made Rico go through depression, happiness, depression again, love and anger but, mostly, a new sense of peace and the confidence that they would never leave him. Sure, he had small fights with one of them every once in a while but it always passed by real quick.

His loyalty to Skipper was unquestionable and his friendship towards Kowalski was undeniable. They had saved him, and Rico owed them at least that.

But for the many years he spent with them, his warmth and trust growing every day, he still simply wondered..._why_?


End file.
